The ease and efficiency of modern day air travel has shrunk the geography of the world and people are able to travel from one place to another around the world traveling longer distances than before. As a result, air travel for many involves spending longer durations on board depending upon the distance between the departure and destination points. In order to keep passengers entertained, modern day aircrafts come equipped with entertainment programs such as music, games and videos, which are typically pre-stored and are displayed to the passengers on a display screen based on their choice and selection. These display screens may be rectangular shaped screens provided on the rear side of each cabin seat, viewable by the passenger sitting behind and facing the front portion of display screen. Some aircrafts are equipped with display screens which provide passengers moving maps showing views of the aircraft's transit path and other transit related information such as flight symbols, departure and destination marker beacons, track line i.e., path of journey from departure point to destination point, and names of cities etc. nearer to the present position of flight along with pointers. Display of such information is enabled by a system which typically utilizes the present location of the aircraft and, based on other information collected from the navigation system and global positioning receiver of the aircraft, shows moving maps providing visual representation of one or more transit related information. Generally, the moving maps show the above details in two dimensional view on the display screen with some information being presented in a three dimensional view.
During flight transit, the moving map as shown on the display screen re-orients itself based on the location of the flight and the information displayed on the screen is continuously updated to show the present location, altitude, ground speed, true airspeed, weather information etc., which keeps the passengers updated on the transit and location information of the aircraft. In long haul flights or in travel over cities with historical importance, passengers may desire seeing and learning about various historic places/monuments, either natural or man-made, which are present between the proposed departure and destination points. Such offer of knowledge on the historic places of interest provides a new kind of knowledge oriented entertainment which may be of interest to several passengers on board. For example, a person taking a flight from United States of America to Paris, there can many points of interest such as Statue of Liberty, Eiffel tower, etc. which a passenger would like to see and learn about.
However, due to the altitude of flight, and climatic conditions, it is not possible to view in real time such points of interest. There may be systems provided in aircraft display screens that allow the user to view some static images of a monument as an aircraft crosses it during its flight path; however, the view is static and does not enhance the visual or learning experience for the passenger. There is also no audio program associated with a certain point of interest that would provide information on that particular point of interest so as to educate the passenger on the historical/architectural/geographical importance of the monument/point of interest.
Accordingly, in order to provide the passengers an enhanced entertainment option and to enrich their visual experience on the points of interest encountered in the aircraft's flight path, there exists a need for technology which enables the passengers to visualize a point of interest as a three-dimensional model which provides one or more different types of views on moving maps to further enhance the visual experience of the passenger.
There also exists a need for technology which enables the passengers to learn about a specific point of interest while viewing it on the display screen by providing the option of an audio program audio program associated with a certain point of interest that would provide historical/architectural/geographical information on that particular point of interest.